Well. Few weeks ago I replaced valve cover gaskets and Egr valve. Seems like a week or so after that I am getting this noisy droning sound in the car. I can slow accelerate and maybe around 20mph this drone kicks in and feels like my ears popping listening to it. I can accelarate pretty quick up to 60mph and hold at 60 and this droning noise will stay pretty loud around 60-65 mph. I can let off the gas and let the car slow itself down and the drone will wind down. During this noise around 60mph, the brake and gas pedal have some added vibration than usual but the steering wheel feels fine.

I thought maybe bad egr valve or I didn't hook something back up right, but like I said when let the noise wind down I can put the car in neutral and rev the motor and the sound remains the same. Or just leave the tach at 900rpm and the sound will remain.



Sound like a wheel bearing? I guess I'll have to try the 12 and 6 test.

 

check your tires asap before you loose a wheel on the side of the road.

sounds like a wheel bearing to me.

 

jack the front tire up in the air.... grab at 12 and 6 and try to move the tire... then do the 3 and 9 clock to check for the rest of the movement...
If bearings its actually pretty easy to replace... you will have only 5 bolts to remove before you get the entire knuckle assembly out of the car... take it to a shop have them press out and press in the bearings and that's it.... it took me about 25 min to take both of my knuckles out of the car... another 20 min at the shop to have them pressed in and out and another 25min to get back on the car...

Hint: if you have abs DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE THE SENSOR FROM THE KNUCKLE... THE BOLT WILL SNAP AND YOU WILL BREAK THE SENSOR...disconnect the sensor from the wires inside the engine bay.

 

I am about to buy a wheel hub non-abs, I have abs on the car and I want to know, if I can use a non abs wheel bearing because the JY has the none abs only. thanks .

 

Nope. The hole for the abs sensor isnt there.

 

ok, damn trying to take the short cut ok thanks.

 

Doesn't sound like a wheel bearing to me. Most Ive seen growl at low speed and are quieter at high speed. Also a hub is not what you need, the hub is only the flanged part that bolts to the wheel. Maximas don't use a unitized bearing assembly, you will need to press yours apart and install a new bearing.

 

Well,I am getting a lot of vibration on my left foot floor. Brake pedal has vibration. But no vibration in steering wheel. Seems like 65 is the sweet spot for it to howl constant. 80 kinda quiets a bit but still hear it. On a highway!

It sounds like a dulled out bad muffler sound.

 

I was curious are the 95-96 wheel bearings the same as the 97-99 wheel bearings. I need the hub thanks.

 

I highly suggest you make no assumptions on the wheel bearing. I did and proved myself wrong later. After a week of this noise slowly getting louder I put the car up and checked all the bearings. (I had already done the wheel 'slop' check.) One was clearly bad. What confused the issue, when I tried to wrench on the wheel/tire, I got no movement. So make no assumptions, take the wheel off so you can feel the bearing closely. (Take the brake caliper and pads off if needed.)

You will not necessarily get any movement in the steering wheel if the bearing is bad.

You need to find out if this noise is based on gear, rpm, speed, load, steering, etc. Just saying it is most prevalent at a specific speed is not all that helpful.

 

Have you done the 'turning test' yet? If you can get to an empty parking lot or something, take a hard turn while traveling at a speed (a reasonable speed, obviously ) where you can hear the noise. If it goes away for that moment, then the bearing on the opposite side may be your problem.

I had a bad D/side bearing on my 6th gen, and the noise was audible and could be felt through the cabin even at highway speeds. Noise would go away when taking a hard turn to the right. At highway speeds it actually kind of sounded like a humming/buzzing noise, almost like a civic with an ebay exhaust but not as loud or obnoxious.

 

timken wheels bearings are fairly cheap, I got mine for $30 each shipped and I used the oem hub, yep even after 200k the hub was still good...

 

Ditto - what adroitcaptor said. here's my experience.
Change both bearings on my car. Bearings were Clearly bad when I pressed it out and when I test drove it, to my disappointment, the same sound and vibrations was still there!

After weeks troubleshooting of this noise, thinking there is something else other than the bearings (from replacing the axle, calipers. rotors, and full suspension replacement to considering the transmission --> a mechanic diagnose it)). I determine that I must have purchase a bad bearing ( I kicked myself trying to convince that new bear making identical sound is unlikely. but all symptom lead to the bearing)

After 4 Months of suffering through the noise and pondering the root cause - bit the bullet and jacked the Max up to replace the bearing again. MF-er! the new bearing had the identical pit as the ones I replaced 4 months ago. (repeat - identical pit on the interior wall of the bearing.) (Don't get smart with me... it's been long 4 months. I did not put the olds ones back on)

As adroitcaptor member experienced, when I tried to wrench on the wheel/tire, I got no movement. Bearings issues produce noise at low speeds, increasing in frequency in relation to speed increases. Steering wheel shook and noise intensifies as you steer in direction which will add pressure to the wheel with bad bearing.

Another Lesson, don't doubt yourself when analyzing the symptoms. YES you can purchase a bad parts. I will never buy from this vendor again.

 

I would say it's the bearing, I am assuming correct. The only thing that spins in a circle with the axle through the hub and the car properly locked in and your other suspensions and drivetrain working as it's supposed to. The hub will growl or hum and viberate through the steering wheel and the car will drive with the car shaking and viberating and if it's that bad, it would be a shot wheel bearing.

 

So after more testing I am getting a difference in sound when I turn the wheel right. Not so much left. Sounds like drivers side then?

 

Yeah, looks like you're having the same problem that I had. Driver's side bearing was completely shot. I used Timken bearings, been running great for about a year.

 

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So did you replace both sides at once?

Do they make a ready to bolt in hub with the bearing pressed in already?

Yea this noise resembles a fart can exhaust a civic would put on

 

Yes, I did. Wasn't really required, but I tend to do both sides when faced with a situation like that. On my 6th, the rear hubs came pre assembled w/ bearings pressed in, but fronts don't, so the new bearing had to be pressed into the hub (I replaced the hubs too, also not required, but I got a pretty good deal on everything on ebay, so I figured why not).

 

Check out the rims to see if they are bent. I had the same issue. turned out, i need new rims and tires.

 

So basically just need the wheel bearing and two wheel seals per wheel?

 

I pounded my bearing out with a seal/race driver. It was easy. No need to take the whole thing to a press.

 

I can officially close out my thread by saying it was the Drivers side front wheel bearing that went bad

Thanks fellas